Middle School

Sarah P., Heatherwood Middle School

Tech Class Goes Virtual with Rezzly

I have used Rezzly as a way to put my entire 6-8th grade middle school
technology curriculum online. There have been challenges setting up my
entire curriculum as quests, and during the first trimester I could
barely keep up creating quests with the fastest student prior to them
needing it. My technology curriculum naturally lends itself to a
self‑paced model. Every student comes in with a different skill
set and interpretation of technology. This format provides a vehicle for
students to work at their own pace, really learn for understanding of
the technology applications and feel successful. In the past, there were
times where the fast-paced students didn’t have enough to do, and the
struggling students felt hopeless. Now, even when kids are absent they
can still complete the course and feel successful. I now have students
bugging me during class to hurry up and check off their quests so they
can move on to more work. One of the things I want to work on as I
develop my curriculum is creating more lessons that achieve the same
skill and meet the same standard(s) so students have more “choice”
built in.

High School

Bonnie W., South Freemont High School

Guild Hall Days: Language Arts

One day a week students enter a virtual guild hall where they are word
crafters who are advancing in a skill to assist future careers: writing.
They decide where their training time should be spent by choosing their
quests. Learning a writing technique? Writing better sentences? Reading
a mentor text? When I can only give students one day a week in the
Internet-connected lab, I wanted them to do more than word processing.
With Rezzly, I was taught how to create an engaging virtual learning
environment tailored to my students’ interests. Their interests form a
wide span, and making sure that there is something for everyone keeps me
busy! This learning management system allows choice, differentiation,
individualization—and learning fun to co-exist. Although it’s a
challenge to keep the quests coming because students move through them
more quickly than they do assignments in a normal classroom, Rezzly
handles the organizational work that often made diversification
difficult. Students are experimenting with more web 2.0 tools, more
content, and more varied writing experiences than ever before. The
system lets me tell students how to complete the quest if their work is
below the quest’s standard. They are supported and encouraged. They can
try again. When I have the Guild Hall Day sign posted, I hear, "I love
Guild Hall Days!"

Sean O., Antioch High School

National Academy Foundation Curriculum Gamified

At Antioch High School's Media/Tech Academy, we deliver all our CTE
curriculum through Rezzly. As a member academy of the National Academy
Foundation, we take the NAF lessons and adapt them to a quest‑based
format within the [Rezzly] system. For an hour each day (because we’re
limited to one lab this year), 130 students currently work on Graphic
Design; next year, offerings will expand to include Principles of IT,
Web Design, and Computer Networking for all 270 Academy students. The
greatest benefit of using Rezzly has been the differentiation of pace
that has occurred. Students are able to move quickly or slowly through
the curriculum based on their needs. Often we see various students take
extra time at different tasks, implying that they are getting a delivery
that is more closely tailored to their particular learning style. This
has also allowed me to become much more of a coach and “helper” in
contrast to previous years when I was responsible for instructional
delivery AND student support. It’s a whole different - and so far more
effective - way to teach.

Mike L., Natick High School

Game Design Course

I use Rezzly in my Game Design and Development course; it's a
semester‑long elective with three sections of about 25 students.
I've only been running it for a couple weeks, but so far engagement has
been through the roof and I've collected a ton of useful data that has
helped me plan much more effectively.

Jessica S., District 219

I have transformed my traditional classroom into a hybrid learning
experience. This has enabled my students to be self directed learners
that are actively involved with seeking knowledge, creating meaning, and
discovering how they learn best. My students arrive to class each day,
login to Rezzly and begin questing. I have seen improvements on time on
task, student engagement, homework completion, information retention,
and excitement about coming to class.

Community College

Deborah B., Asheville Buncombe Technical College

Nurse Adventurer

In Rezzly, I use a game format to help my students study and learn
difficult concepts by giving them multiple questions with the answers
made available within the quests to help them view concepts from
multiple directions. To introduce my quests to my students, I recorded
my avatar, Liquid, who gives a basic overview on how to use [Rezzly].
I used MovieMaker to give audio to my power point slides. I use
www.studystack.com (free) to create flashcards, hangman, scrabble, bug
match, and online quizzes that contain class content. I will find online
tutorials that I can link my students, too. In nursing, many diseases
relate to nutrition, and I can create a calcium garden, for example,
that would be a picture of the foods that provide good sources of
calcium. I upload these pictures and use www.Jigsawplanet.com (free) to
create an interactive puzzle for them. If I find a nice article on the
topic I am teaching, I will break it up between multiple quests
(citing it, of course) which can provide the illusion that they are not
reading a full text article. This is my first semester using Rezzly, and
I am receiving good feedback.

University

Professor Mikael Hellstrom, University of Alberta

Dr. Johnnie Dressner, Executive Vice President and Professor of
Biology and Teacher Education, Concordia University

Human Physiology Course

I have used Rezzly to provide a quest-based environment for my Human
Physiology Course. I saw improvements in both student engagement and
student learning resulting from the incorporation of the quest-based
design principles. 78% of the students in the course felt that they
learned more in this environment than in a more traditional lecture
format, with 40% identifying the ability to work on their own schedule
as a powerful aspect of the design.

D. Ellis, Rothesay, Canada

French 101

What a great class!!!! My students were so excited to be working through
our first French unit on Identity. What usually takes me a week to get
through was done in 1 class!! They were more open with sharing their
insights, were helping each other (despite the fact that most of them
were complete strangers at our boarding school) and were asking for more
quests. I didn't assign any quests for homework, but I just keep seeing
the XP climbing higher and higher....on the weekend!!! Keeping up with
them is going to be tough.

District-Wide

Lucas G., Pender County Schools

"WoW in Schools" and "MMO in Schools"

The Rezzly platform has become an integral part of the MMO-School
movement. It has given us the ability to share our curriculum with
pioneering educators around the world. In our district, it is
transforming classroom instruction. I've witnessed, first-hand,
educators who have embraced the philosophy that Rezzly is built upon,
challenging the status-quo of public schooling. The game-based learning
revolution has begun!

After School Programs

Tracie H., Roeper School

"TechWizards Clubhouse"

Rezzly has been a rewarding experience for both me and the students.
It's fundamentally changed the way I would approach curriculum
development and delivery. It adds news layers of responsibility upfront
in terms of preparation especially as it relates to the design
template/grid. The template is a priceless tool for navigating and
tracking my intended outcomes. You really have to know where you want
the final destination to be for the students. You clearly have to map
out where you want to go. As an instructor of an after school program,
the students are incredibly excited when they come into the lab. The
experiential and inquiry-based learning aspects that this platform
promotes is reflected in the students' genuine interest and energy. I
have had so much positive feedback from the parents. Challenges: Getting
the students to truly reflect on their learning. Everything is so new
that they often just want to get to the next new quest. The verification
feature provides an adequate solution to those who want to bypass the
process.